Marine vehicles may encounter a variety of emergency situations, such as, for example, theft or piracy. Presently, several methods and systems may be used to prevent theft or piracy of marine vehicles.
The most common systems used to deter piracy include the use of fire hoses. These fire hoses may be used to spray sea water at pirate vehicles or at pirates attempting to board the marine vehicles. These fire hoses, or fire monitors, may be either manually operated or remotely controlled.
In addition, some deterrent systems may use non-lethal ammunition rounds, such as, for example, rubber balls, rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tasers, aimed at pirate vehicles or pirates attempting to board the marine vehicles.
Further, other deterrent systems may use non-lethal laser light systems to illuminate or “dazzle” pirates with non-blinding laser devices. Also, further deterrent systems may use electromagnetic or sonic energy to deter and/or warn pirates and pirate vehicles, possibly from a long range.
Although all of the conventional methods and systems strive to prevent theft or piracy, they do not adequately provide any backup measures if they are unsuccessful in preventing theft or boarding of the vehicle by pirates.
In this regard, engines for marine vehicles, in particular engines for tugboats, may include a large fuel reservoir to hold fuel during normal operation. When such an engine is shut off such that a fuel supply from the fuel tank is closed, the large fuel reservoir of the engine may still contain a substantial amount of fuel. This large fuel reservoir may normally assist in quickly starting up the engine for future operation.
However, in emergency situations such as, for example, theft or piracy, it may be advantageous to shut off the engine instantaneously such that no more fuel is available to the engine. In situations in which the conventional methods of deterring theft or piracy have been unsuccessful, the large fuel reservoir may allow the vehicle to be operated for a substantial time and distance even after fuel supply from the fuel tank has been closed.